Penang travel guide

Loads of Things to do

Despite the bad experience at the run down Sri Sayang Serviced Apartments it was quickly made up by cosy Tune Hotel and the friendly people, rich heritage & culture and great beach activities [a must try!]. I got my 65 year old mom to para-sail - the 1st extreme sports she's ever done all her life! Oh and not forgetting the great food - we've never pig-out that massively until Penang. Not forgetting the wonderful massages [we had our daily massages for 2 days in a row!!] and loads of shopping for ourselves and souvenirs for friends back in the UK & Singapore.

Things to do in 4D/3N:
Beach activities - Along Batu Ferringhi beach area [away from the main hotel areas]. The sun-bed comes free with any water sports. Each costs approx from MYR100 onwards. Jetski, parasail, etc

Shopping - Night market at Batu Ferringhi after 7pm. Everything from clothings, fake goods to home decor items, souvenirs, costume jewelleries and so on. Remember to haggle! It's fun, my 14 year old nephew had the hang of it and managed to get 2 t-shirts for only MYR15!!

Food - Forget Gurney Drive which is over=rated and has changed since the 90s, check out Sg Pinang Food Centre or Batu Ferringhi food court at night which is hidden along the night market street. Try fried kway teow, bbq seafood, satay, roti canai or paper dosai, oyster omelette, wanton noodle and the variety of fresh fruit juices [durian anyone?]. Oh and ice white coffee north Malaysia style [must try]. For the less adventurous there are many cafes and restaurants along the road towards night market serving wood fire pizzas, pastas and all things western - fish & chips anyone?

Ultimate pampering- will have to be our daily massages 2 days in a row. Even the teenagers were addicted to it. We all slept so well both nights! Check out beauty salons along Jalan Burmah [2min walk from Tune hotel]. Costs MYR60 for 1-hour body massage and MYR35 for 30min back/shoulder or foot massage.

Culture/Heritage - Start at the Heritage museum to get background of the heritage sites then take a walk amongst the old style houses dating back to the 1800s. Most of the buildings and businesses are still the same as they were back in the 70s. No kidding! Fancy a quick haircut? Try hole in wall barber for a MYR6 shave/haircut by Indian man. Very amusing. One of my relative did it and enjoyed the experience it would costs 5X that back home in UK, I was told. Learn about the early Chinese migrants and how the clans are formed. You'll come across Little India as you walk towards the coastal area. You can give the Fort a miss, nothing spectacular except for old walls and couple of cannons left from the war, not worth the fees.

Tourist attractiions - We went up Penang Hill [Bukit Bendera]. Was interesting to ride up the hill at approx 700+ metres above sea level in an old tram [possibly >100s years old]. Unfortunately that day up the hill it was hazy caused by forest fire smog blown over from Indonesia. So we didn't have clear view of the cityscape. Still it's quite amazing to be up there and feeling a little chilled from the constant breeze. At the highest point we discovered an Indian temple co-existing next to a Mosque. That itself is very amazing. Would be nice if they actually have footpath for the more adventurous, like us to walk into the rainforest back down to the starting point.

Next we went to check out Kek Lok Si Temple, just 5 min away from Penang Hill. Very different from I remembered it to be in the 90s. There are literally stalls all along both sides of the path/stairs up towards the temple. We get a lot of hassle along the way up and down from the hawkers, trying to sell us drinks, t-shirts and local snacks. Up on the temple ground it was breezy and very serene. We spent some time just chilling out with the Buddhist chant played from the hifi in the background. Yeah we all felt a little enlightened at the end of it :D

Unique experience
Fish Spa. May not sound right but it's quite therapeutic once you get the hang of fishes nibbling at your feet in hordes. Super ticklish and eeeeeee... but after 10min, you'll get the hang of it. [MYR22 for 30min]
Waxing for my bro-in-law. Yes the therapist was shocked by the layer of carpet on the waxed paper after the 1st strip of wax from his back!! Hahaaha...

Traveling around - I was given a contact that offers competitive pricing for transporting us from one point to another while we enjoy the tourist sites as well as to the airport. It is charged by the hour including waiting time. As there were 9 of us, trying to arrange and taking multiple taxis were a nightmare so the minivan serves our needs perfectly. Makes life easy for the shepherd too.

Also note dishonest taxi drivers who tries to rip foreigners off. Fare from town [taking Tune hotel as marker] to Gurney drive only costs MYR5. There's this driver that tried to charged us MYR50!! From coastal area back to Tune hotel area only costs MYR10. So be very careful. Where possible as for metered fare unless you look and speak local language e.g. hokkien, mandarin or cantonese. Well that helped me.

Taxi fare from airport to/from Batu ferringhi area costs around MYR120 and to/from Georgetown costs around RM70. Hope this help with budgeting and getting around.

There are also plenty of buses the takes you from one point e.g. Batu Ferringhi to Georgetown area. They are frequent and runs till late at night. Just need to ask hotel staff for the right bus and the routes they take. That's another useful tip esp. if you are traveling a large group like ours.

Well that's it from me. Hope the info supplied is useful and helpful. Have a safe and great trip to Penang!!

Penang travel guide last edited by travel_bugz edit this text

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